FAKING IT IN BROCKTON: Police seize $126,000 in counterfeit goods

A Brockton woman, two Quincy men and a Braintree woman are facing charges after federal and local authorities seized more than $126,000 in counterfeit merchandise from a Belmont Street hotel, police said.

By Maria Papadopoulos

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

By Maria Papadopoulos

Posted Dec. 11, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Dec 11, 2012 at 11:11 AM

By Maria Papadopoulos

Posted Dec. 11, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Dec 11, 2012 at 11:11 AM

BROCKTON

» Social News

It was a “pocketbook party” unlike anything officer Scott Uhlman had ever seen – hundreds of people waiting at a local hotel to buy counterfeit goods.

The “party” ended on Saturday when federal and local authorities seized more than $126,000 in counterfeit merchandise and $3,320 in cash from the bar area of the Quality Inn at 1005 Belmont St., Route 123.

There were tables of knockoff items on display. The goods were being passed off as designer items: Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Burberry, Coach, Michael Kors, North Face. But police said they were fake – and garnered thousands in illegal sales.

“It’s one of the largest (busts) that I’ve seen for counterfeit goods, absolutely,” Uhlman said Monday.

All four are charged with distributing a counterfeit mark, a felony. Fasano was released on $540 cash bail and Nunziato, Perry and Rouillard were released on $40 cash bail. All four were released on personal recognizance following their arraignments Tuesday in Brockton District Court. A pretrial hearing was set for March 11 for Perry, Nunziato, Fasano and Rouillard.

All four declined comment following their arraignments Tuesday. Attorney Stephen Tobin of Quincy, a former state representative and state senate candidate who is representing Fasano and Rouillard, declined comment outside the courtroom.

"Why are you asking me these questions? I don't want to say anything on behalf of my clients," Tobin said.

Police made the arrests after a months-long investigation by Brockton and Randolph detectives and special agents from the federal Department of Homeland Security into counterfeit sales at the Quality Inn.

The arrests occurred about 11 a.m. Saturday, after federal agents and local detectives saw the suspects carrying boxes of counterfeit items from their vehicles into the Quality Inn, police said.

Police were contacted by Andrea Powers, a private investigator working for garment and accessory manufacturers, at 10:15 a.m. Saturday. Powers told Uhlman a “large amount of counterfeit items were coming into the Quality Inn and being offered for sale to the general public,” Uhlman wrote in his report.

About 11 a.m., Powers told Uhlman, she saw the suspects transporting the items from their vehicles, a 2006 Jeep, a 2007 Jeep and a 2000 Chevy Cavalier. Police later seized all three vehicles.

Inside the hotel, a “full retail store” had been set up in the bar area displaying the knockoffs and “taking up every available table as well as two pool tables,” Uhlman wrote. Powers told police she saw “a number of sales and transactions” before officers arrived.

As Brockton police arrived, federal agents began clearing the bar area, and Uhlman saw “a couple of hundred” people leaving the hotel.

Page 2 of 2 - “The piles of North Face, Ugg’s (sic), and Burberry items as well as pocketbooks were stacked all over the place,” Uhlman wrote.

Seated nearby were Fasano, Nunziato, Rouillard and Perry. Police saw a wad of cash under Fasano’s chair and Perry, the bartender, “was observed being handed a wad of cash from Fasano,” Uhlman wrote.

Police said they seized a total of $3,320 in cash: $2,645 from Fasano, $420 from Perry and $255 from Nunziato.

Police said the counterfeit goods were being stored in a Randolph storage facility.

Randolph Detective Michael Tuitt and federal agents responded to Public Storage, 87 Warren St., Randolph at about 4 p.m. Saturday. Police received consent from Fasano to enter the storage locker, where they found more counterfeit merchandise, Uhlman wrote. Randolph police will seek additional complaints against Fasano out of Quincy District Court, police said.

Perry, who works part-time as a bartender at the hotel, had asked management to open the bar earlier on Saturday for a Christmas party, said Sidd Bhowmik, general manager of the Quality Inn in Brockton.

The bar normally opens at 4 p.m. on Saturday; Perry asked that it open at 11 a.m.

“(Perry) said she wanted to open the bar for a Christmas party, and we said, ‘OK, that’s fine,’” Bhowmik told The Enterprise on Monday. “We did not think of it otherwise.”

Bhowmik told The Enterprise he and other employees were not aware of the illegal sales there. He said he believes there will be some disciplinary action against Perry; he did not know Monday what action that will be.